“We speak of stories ending, when in truth it is we who end. The stories go on and on.”
“We are all these things [...]. Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty...and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights. ”
“Truly, it is in loss that we learn a thing's true value.”
“What is fear but courage's shadow?”
“It's the same questions we ask of our existence, and the answer is always the same. The mystery lies not in the question nor the answer, but in the asking and answering themselves, over and over again, and the end is engendered in the beginning. ”
“We pay for sins we do not remember, and seek to do a will we can scarce fathom. That is what it is, to be a god's chosen. ”
“I know what you are. I've always known from the beginning, Kushiel's Chosen. It is folly, to make claim on one whom the gods have marked for their own. And unlike the others, I am no fool, to grasp at that which burns to the touch. What you have given..." she raised one hand, palm upward, the garnet seal dangling at her wrist, "... I hold in an open hand.”
“As often as not, we forge our own chains. And from those, not even Adonai Himself can free us. We must do it ourselves.”
“But to force growth is to kill it.”
“Avevo Joscelin, il mio Compagno Perfetto, la bussola su cui era fisso il mio cuore.”
“Cos'è il potere? Questi giovani sciocchi vi si arrendono con ogni impaurito battito del cuore. E così le ombre crescono, assumendo potere. Cos'è la paura, se non l'ombra del coraggio?”
“Orgoglio, desiderio, compassione, intelligenza, belligeranza, fecondità, lealtà... e colpa. Ma al di sopra di tutto c'è l'amore. E se desideriamo essere più che umani, è quella la stella che dobbiamo seguire. Non possiamo fare altro che tentare. È sufficiente.”
“Glielo spiegai; non a parole, ma nel linguaggio della carne, di labbra, lingua e mani, del respiro accelerato e del pulsare del sangue nelle vene, nell'umore salato del desiderio. È la stessa domanda che poniamo alla nostra esistenza, e anche la risposta è sempre la stessa. Il mistero non è nella domanda e neppure nella risposta, ma nel continuare a domandarsi e a rispondersi, perché la fine è generata dall'inizio.”
“Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty… and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights.”
“There are many things wealth cannot buy, and most of those are enumerated by philosophers who have never woken wondering if this day would be their last.”
“Beauty inspires love; so it is said, in Terre d’Ange. Was it done that we might find this world worthy of loving?”
“How strange it must be, I thought, to be wed not merely as husband and wife but Cruarch and Queen, trading men’s lives and the wealth of nations as love-tokens.”
“That kiss, I cannot describe. It was like a poem, a prayer, a homecoming unlooked-for. It was like dungeon walls crumbling to reveal a glimpse of sky. It”
“It is a scholar's weakness, to run narrow and deep.”
“There are ties that bind more complex than blood.”
“You've heard of vampires?"
I nodded.
"You've heard of werwolves?"
"Of course."
"Had you ever heard of us?"
I shook my head.
"That's called 'staying under the radar,' dear Kate. It's what we're good at.”
“Our attitude towards suffering becomes very important because it can affect how we cope with suffering when it arises.”
“As for will, woman should be considered superior to man for Eve ate of the apple for love of knowledge and learning, but Adam ate of it merely because she asked him.”
“He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity.”
“Someone's got to look after the devil himself, as long as he wears clothes and needs food and drink.”
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.